My Digital Experience: A Show and Tell Conference to Connect Faculty with Instructional Designers

The relationship between campus instructional designers (IDs) and faculty is an all-important one in supporting student success. Faculty are experts in the content they teach, and IDs are experts in designing effective learning opportunities. Therefore, it is important not only to support but also to nurture this relationship. The “My Digital Experience: A Show & Tell Conference” was created with the goal of facilitating collaboration between the IDs and faculty on our campus, giving faculty a chance to “show (off) and tell” others about their digital experiences in innovative online or hybrid course design, implementation, management, assessment, and/or problem-solving. The inaugural Show & Tell Conference in spring 2022 was entirely virtual. Faculty presenters selected a topic based on their experiences teaching online, and the presentation was developed in collaboration with an ID with whom a faculty member was partnered. The IDs contributed additional resources and professional development relative to the presentation topic. The effective collaboration between the faculty member and ID partners was demonstrated in the presentation and how well it was received by the attendees. A website of the presentations, discussions, and other useful resources was created after the conference. The second annual “My Digital Experience: A Show & Tell Conference” was scheduled for early March 2023.